Grandmother

i could paint you
dainty as lavender
and your cheeks
pearled pink peony

but it wouldn't be a true
snapshot 
unfiltered you
is freckled by sun

with hands
deeply-grooved
by changing sea tides

your words steady
as you crochet 
bedsheet with scent
of earth


Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille, hosted by Mish.  This is a 44 word post, with the given word, FRECKLE.  Join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.

Sayuri-san

what lies beneath your lacquered eyes, are you               

hiding a jewel, onyx as pain from                         

hundred lashes of an errant word. you brew                   

your secrets, guard your wide gold sleeves with cane    

has venom tinged your blood to rust, a bane                        

once, your laughter was black raven’s clone        

as you bargain with harvest moon for bones  

rise, dispel this ghostly ritual at night        

press your red hot lips against the limestone                  

unbound your robe & step into moonlight          

Photo credit: Totomai Martinez

Posted for OpenLinkNight - dVerse Poets Pub, hosted by Linda Lee Lyberg - Form is Dizain.  The basic rules for the dizain are that it has one stanza consisting of 10 lines, with 10 syllables per line, and the rhyme scheme is ababbccdcd.

Curse of the roses

My petals eaten
by bugs & mulched
   by slugs
I am still canvas
beneath harsh summer sun
In my singular stubbornness
my one small bud
opens to sun's warmth
framed amidst
tattered & scattered pieces
Snow white crown
- perfect -
Then the frenzy begins
& buzzing
   & buzzing of insects
until petals are dull
leaves blackening to soot
Do I move to another ground?
Throw my pollen
afar, go
where the southern wind
scatters me
Pull up my roots
My rosehip oil is divine
Break this curse &
replant me,
where I can
hear the hummingbirds
& rain
          drops
   & rain
             drops


Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Poetics, Movement hosted by Amaya. Please visit dVerse blog for the full details.   Thank you.

silence is not the answer

If our grandchildren asked of us
Where are the polar bears & lions
And the bison, elephant & caribou
On the plains of red dust
Our leather shoes shiny as sun
What do we say?

If our grandchildren asked of us
Where is the ocean of whales
And mountains with green firs & oak
The blue lake with whooping crane
carefully threading for her catch
What do we say?

We ride along in our new cars 
counting loyalty points, likes & followers
We have no seeds to burrow
only garbage & tons of cheap clothes
We ply away this blue & serene sky
for plastic, smoke & towering condos

If our grandchildren asked of us
Why we are gifting them a dying planet
Will we hear the birdsongs, hoots and grunts
from long lost creatures 
and recall the smell of freshly picked apples?
What do we say?



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - On Climate Crisis hosted by Anmol (alias HA).

For more information, see link here:  Climate Change, What can you do

Sunshine

you bring the sun
through storms & winter
darkness 

steady me
with an anchor of kelp &
kite of starlight

teach me humility 
in sharing your light to
others

blind not my eyes
with rust of world but
with kindness
soft as child's hands

The Sun by Dale Chihuly

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille & 8th Anniversary.  This is a 44 word post with the given word:   sun.   Join us when the pub doors open after our summer break, at 3pm EST.  Thank you!!!!